Pre-Season Peeks: Game 3-Georgia; Game 4-Miami

Woody Woodrum,

07/22/2004

The Herd will endure the toughest opening month in the history of the MU football program. Moses would have trouble parting the "Red Sea" that awaits the Herd. First, we looked at the Red & Black of Troy as well as the Scarlet & Gray of Ohio State. Today, we will break down the Red, Black & Silver of the University of Georgia Bulldogs and the Red & White of the RedHawks of Miami University. The former Redskins will end this long month of "Red-Letter" dates for the Green & White of Marshall.

Game Three: University of Georgia-September 23, Athens, GA Time TBA (THN-WSAZ TV-3, if no regional/national TV)
Nickname: Bulldogs
Colors: Red, Black and Silver
Conference: Southeastern Conference*
Last: N/A (first meeting)
All-time Series: N/A (first meeting); Herd is 1-12 versus SEC Teams all-time, beating USC in ‘98
2003 Record: 11-3/6-2; won Capital One Bowl, beating Purdue 34-27
Head Coach:Mark Richt 32-8 (3 years); former Florida State assistant; 12-1 in 2002 & 8-3 in 2001
Defensive Watch List (6 returning starters):Sr. DE David Pollack, 6-3, 276; First team All-American in 2002 and 2003; 92 tackles, 7.5 sacks in '03, UGA record 14 sacks in ‘02, and won Ted Hendricks award as nations best DE; turned down opportunity to go in NFL Draft this past spring as a sure first-round selection
Jr. FS Thomas Davis, 6-1, 220; First team All-SEC last year; led Bulldogs with 138 tackles and added 4.5 sacks, 4 tackles-for-loss, 2 pass-break-ups and one interception
Offensive Watch List (9 returning starters):Sr. WR Fred Gibson. 6-4, 196; 36 receptions, 553 yards, 15.4 ypc average, 3 scores and long catch of 56 yards in only 11 starts (missed 3 games with injury)
Sr. QB David Green, 6-3, 230; 438-264-11 (60.3%) last year for 3,307 yards and 13 (includes 3 TD in bowl win over PU) touchdowns; First team All-SEC in 2002, with only 58% completions for 2,924 yards, 22 TD and 8 picks; starter since 2001; beat UT in Knoxville in '01 for first win by UGA there since 1980;
Stadium: Sanford Stadium (seats-92, 058; surface- natural grass)
2004 Schedule: 9/4 Georgia Southern; 9/11 @ South Carolina*; 9/18 Marshall; 10/2 LSU*; 10/9 Tennessee*; 10/16 Vanderbilt* (HC); 10/23 @ Arkansas*; 10/30 Florida* (Jacksonville); 11/6 @ Kentucky; 11/13 @ Auburn*; 11/27 Georgia TechOf Note: Bulldogs ranked number one in two spring football pre-season polls (CBS Sportsline.com and collegefootballnews.com), number two by Street & Smith and number three in two other magazines; Offensive line is made up of all returning, junior starters although they allowed a SEC worst 47 sacks; UGA posted 12-1 mark in 2002 and won Sugar Bowl over Florida State 26-13; All games are on natural grass in 2004, home and away.

Game Four: Miami University of Ohio-September 29, Huntington 7:00 p.m. (ESPN)
Nickname: RedHawks
Colors: Red and White
Conference: Mid-American*
Last (in Oxford, OH 11/12/03): Miami-45 MU-6
All-time Series: Miami 30-9-1
2003 Record: 12-1/8-0; won GMAC Bowl 49-28 over Louisville of Conference USA
Head Coach: Terry Hoeppner 40-20 (5 years); former Miami Offensive Coordinator; 1-4 vs. Marshall
Defensive Watch List (8 starters returning):Sr. SS Matt Pusateri, 5-11, 210; 141 tackles, 3 interceptions and 12 passes-broken-up last year; pre-season All-MAC selection; 387 career tackles as three-year starter
Jr. CB Darrell Hunter, 6-1, 206; 4.29 speed; 43 tackles, 4 interceptions and 10 passes-broken-up in 2003; pre-season First team All-MAC selection; 43 tackles as well as true freshman in 2002
Offensive Watch List (5 starters returning):Sr. RB Mike Smith, 6-0, 205; second in rushing last year with 175 carries for 802 yards (4.6 ypc) and team-leading 17 rushing TD; backed up by two red-shirt freshmen, Brandon Murphy (5-8, 180) and Cory Jones (5-10, 175); Miami has had a 1,000 yards rusher 8 of last 9 years
Jr. WR Martin Nance, 6-5, 210; second team All-MAC last season, named along with Josh Davis of Herd as pre-season first team all-league pick for 2004; led RedHawks with 90 catches for 1,498 yards (16.6 ypc), new Miami record for yards in season, and 11 TD; had long of 61 yards 4.4 speed
Stadium: Yager Stadium (seats-30,012; surface-artificial FieldTurf)
2004 Schedule: 8/28 Indiana State; 9/4 @ Michigan; 9/11 @ Cincinnati; 9/18 Ohio*; 9/29 @ Marshall*; 10/9 Kent State*; 10/16 @ Buffalo*; 10/23 UCF* (HC); 11/3 Toledo*; 11/13 @ WMU*; 11/20 @ Akron*
Of Note: Miami the first team to win the MAC East Division besides Herd since the league split into divisions in 1997; Miami's first MAC title since 1986 but the RedHawks 14th overall, leading Bowling Green (10 titles) for the MAC all-time most championships won (others include Toledo-8; MU & Ball State-5); number ten in both final polls, tying MAC's all-time best (Miami-1974 and Marshall-1999); GMAC Bowl first post-season trip for RedHawks and first for Miami since California Bowl in 1986 (then Redskins lost to San Jose State 37-7); Miami plays biggest rivals back-to-back-to-back in September— at Cincinnati, Ohio and at Marshall, following opener versus 3-9/'03 I-AA Sycamores and trip to Big House to battle Wolverines (3-9 since 1994 vs. Big Ten); co-defensive coordinators for 2004 are Brian George and Joe Palcic, third year in row for new DC at Miami; OC Shane Montgomery coached against Herd at UTC from 1993 to 1996 (he was there through 2000) and against MU at Miami since 2001 (2-5 vs. Herd)